Costas Kadis: A bookish technocrat to handle oceans and fisheries

BRUSSELS — In naming Cypriot Costas Kadis commissioner for oceans and fisheries, Ursula von der Leyen has put a technocrat used to straddling the middle ground in charge of a fiercely contested, highly political brief.

A conservation biologist by training, 57-year-old Kadis started his career in academia at the University of Athens and then moved back to his home country to work at the Research Promotion Foundation of Cyprus. In 2005, he established the Nature Conservation Unit at Frederick University.

Kadis, who is an independent and not a member of any political party, entered into politics in 2007 when he became minister of health. Since then, he’s held various government positions including minister of education and culture in 2014-2018 and minister for agriculture, rural development and environment in 2018-2023.

“Mr. Kadis is a  good technocrat, consensual and with a lot of experience in the relevant Ministries he had served in,” said Giorgos Georgiou, a Cypriot MEP with The Left group. These are qualities “that I think will help him cope successfully with the difficult post he has been assigned for the good of the EU.”

Yiannos Katsourides, an associate professor in the Governance and Politics Department of the University of Nicosia, said that Kadis “is considered to be center-right and close to the [centrist] Democratic Party,” someone “with a low profile” that rarely gets involved in political fights. He added that Kadis is seen “mostly as an academic and less of a politician” but nonetheless as someone who “fits the bill for this position” because of his previous experience as a minister.

As a minister in charge of agriculture and environment, Kadis fought for additional funding for struggling farmers, increased forest protection and tougher penalties for arsonists, and improved animal welfare.

But he also came under fire after the Commission referred Cyprus to the EU’s top court earlier this year for failing to adequately manage a Natura 2000 protected site.

To do list

As Commissioner for Fisheries and Oceans, Kadis will have the difficult task of bridging sometimes clashing interests, managing the economic profitability of the sector while ensuring its long-term environmental sustainability.

In his mission letter, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen asked him to “ensure the EU leads global efforts to restore the health and security of the world’s ocean and support coastal communities across Europe.” She wants him to prepare “a vision for the fisheries sector with a 2040 perspective” that should provide new jobs and ensure the long-term competitiveness and sustainability of the fisheries sector.

Kadis is also tasked with drafting an “EU Ocean Research and Innovation Strategy” as well as a “European Oceans Pact” that should “focus on supporting resilient and healthy oceans and coastal areas, promoting the blue economy, managing the use of our seas and oceans coherently” and developing marine knowledge.

Kadis will have to promote sustainable fishing both at home and globally and develop a new approach for the EU’s ocean diplomacy. He will also be in charge of fighting for the EU fleets to access neighboring waters, shield them from “unfair global competition,” and uphold the EU’s “international leadership with its zero tolerance approach to illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.”

But Kadis will also be required to work closely with his counterpart in charge of climate policy, as von der Leyen said she wants to “explore the feasibility of European blue carbon reserves” to provide new sources of revenues for people living on the coast while contributing to protecting marine ecosystems and absorbing CO2 emissions.

Ocean conservation groups hope that with his background in biology Kadis will make environmental protection a core priority of his new job.

“We trust that Prof. Kadis will fully understand that prosperous fishing communities and a thriving blue economy are entirely dependent on a healthy, abundant, and biodiverse ocean,” said Vera Coelho, deputy vice president for Europe of the NGO Oceana.

Meanwhile, fishermen organizations warn that it shouldn’t be all of his job.

Javier Garat, president of the fishing industry association Europêche, said he hoped Kadis would “restore the balance between biodiversity conservation, the sustainable use of natural resources, and food security — an equilibrium that was regrettably lacking in the previous legislative term.”

Leonie Cater contributed to this story.